THE WRONG SIDE OF MEMPHIS
by Claire Applewhite
L&L Dreamspell
www.lldreamspell.com
ISBN: 9781603181167

Dimond Redding, former Vietnam War field nurse, moves to St. Louis for some peace and quiet, thinking to retire there. But that’s not to be. Two weeks later, a man is murdered in the apartment across the hall from Di. Di suspects the investigating detective is focusing on the wrong person when he arrests a friend of one of the tenants in Di’s building. Elvin Suggs, Green Beret during the Vietnam War, is reeling from his wife’s demands for a divorce. Suggs takes his dog and heads to St. Louis to visit Di, his best friend’s widow. Suggs, a private investigator, suspects something afoul when more people are murdered in Di’s apartment building, including his wife. When Suggs is accused of his wife’s murder, he decides to investigate on his own and soon finds his own life in danger.

Applewhite brings focus to Vietnam vets via the characters in this book, stressing their outlook on the war and the role they played in it as well as the lives they lead and the friendships they cherish from that time period. This whodunit has plenty of suspects with several shifty characters, all with secrets of their own, occupying the apartment building. Suggs is an appealing character with a warm heart and zest for life. His dog Vanna adds an appealing dimension to the read, as does Cobra, the homeless Vietnam vet Suggs helps.